10.
Every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,
including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his
choice.

Freedom
from torture.

11.
No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment.

Right
to equality.

12.(1)
All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal
protection of the law.

(2)
No citizen shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race,
religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any
such grounds:

Provided
that it shall be lawful to require a person to acquire within a reasonable
time sufficient knowledge of any language as a qualification for any
employment or office in the Public, Judicial or Local Government Service
or in the service of any public corporation, where such knowledge is
reasonably necessary for the discharge of the duties of such employment or
office:

Provided
further that it shall be lawful to require a person to have sufficient
knowledge of any language as a qualification for any such employment of
office where no function of that employment or office can be discharged
otherwise than with a knowledge of that language.

(3)
No person shall, on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex or
any one such grounds, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction
or condition with regard to access to shops, public restaurants, hotels,
places of public entertainment and places of public worship of his own
religion.

(4)
Nothing in this Article shall prevent special provision being made, by
law, subordinate legislation or executive action, for the advancement of
women, children or disabled persons.

Freedom
from arbitrary arrest, detention and punishment, and prohibition of
retroactive penal legislation.

13.
(1)
No person shall be arrested except according to procedure established by
law. Any person arrested shall be informed of the reason for his arrest.

(2)
Every person held in custody, detained or otherwise deprived of personal
liberty shall be brought before the judge of the nearest competent court
according to procedure established by law, and shall not be further held
in custody, detained or deprived of personal liberty except upon and in
terms of the order of such judge made in accordance with procedure
established by law.

(3)
Any person charged with an offence shall be entitled to be heard, in
person or by an attorney-at-law, at a fair trial by a competent court.

(4)
No person shall be punished with death or imprisonment except by order of
a competent court, made in accordance with procedure established by law.
The arrest, holding in custody, detention or other deprivation of personal
liberty of a person, pending investigation or trial, shall not constitute
punishment.

(5)
Every person shall be presumed innocent until he is proved guilty:

Provided
that the burden of proving particular facts may, by law, be placed on an
accused person.

(6)
No person shall be held guilty of an offence on account of any act or
omission which did not, at the time of such act or omission, constitute
such an offence, and no penalty shall be imposed for any offence more
severe than the penalty in force at the time such offence was committed.

Nothing
in this Article shall prejudice the trial and punishment of any person for
any act or omission which, at the time when it was committed, was criminal
according to the general principles of law recognized by the community of
nations.

It
shall not be a contravention of this Article to require the imposition of
a minimum penalty for an offence provided that such penalty does not
exceed the maximum penalty prescribed for such offence at the time such
offence was committed.

(7)
The arrest, holding in custody, detention or other deprivation of personal
liberty of a person, by reason of a removal order or a deportation order
made under the provisions of the Immigrants and Emigrants Act or the
Indo-Ceylon Agreement (Implementation) Act, No. 14 of 1967, or such other
law as may be enacted in substitution therefor, shall not be a
contravention of this Article.

Freedom
of Speech, assembly, association, movement, &c.

14.
(1) Every citizen is entitled to -

(a)
the freedom of speech and expression including publication;

(b)
the freedom of peaceful assembly;

(c)
the freedom of association;

(d)
the freedom to form and join a trade union;

(e)
the freedom, either by himself or in association with others, and either
in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship,
observance, practice or teaching;

(f)
the freedom by himself or in association with others to enjoy and promote
his own culture and to use his own language;

(g)
the freedom to engage by himself or in association with others in any
lawful occupation, profession, trade, business or enterprise;

(h)
the freedom of movement and of choosing his residence within Sri Lanka;
and

(i)
the freedom to return to Sri Lanka.

(2)
A person who, not being a citizen of any other country, has been
permanently and legally resident in Sri Lanka immediately prior to the
commencement of the Constitution and continues to be so resident shall be
entitled, for a period of ten years from the commencement of the
Constitution, to the rights declared and recognized by paragraph (1) of
this Article.

Restrictions
on fundamental Rights.

15.
(1) The exercise and operation of the fundamental rights declared and
recognized by Articles 13 (5) and 13 (6) shall be subject only to such
restrictions as may be prescribed by law in the interests of national
security. For the purposes of this paragraph “law” includes
regulations made under the law for the time being relating to public security.

(2)
The exercise and operation of the fundamental right declared and
recognized by Article 14(1) (a) shall be subject to such restrictions as
may be prescribed by law in the interests of racial and religious harmony
or in relation to parliamentary privilege, contempt of court, defamation
or incitement to an offence.

(3)
The exercise and operation of the fundamental right declared and
recognized by Article 14(1) (b) shall be subject to such restrictions as
may be prescribed by law in the interests of racial and religious harmony.

(4)
The exercise and operation of the fundamental right declared and
recognized by Article 14(1) (c) shall be subject to such restrictions as
may be prescribed by law in the interests, of racial and religious harmony
or national economy.

(5)
The exercise and operation of the fundamental right declared and
recognized by Article 14 (1) (g) shall be subject to such restrictions as
may be prescribed by law in the interests, of national economy or in
relation to -

(a)
the professional, technical, academic, financial and other qualifications necessary for practising any profession or carrying on any occupation,
trade, business or enterprise, and the licensing and disciplinary control
of the person entitled to such fundamental right, and

(b)
the carrying on by the State, a State agency or a public corporation of
any trade, business,, industry, service or enterprise whether to the
exclusion, complete or partial, of citizens or otherwise.

(6)
The exercise and operation of the fundamental right declared and
recognized by Article 14 (1) (h) shall be subject to such restrictions as
may be prescribed by law in the interests of national economy.

(7)
The exercise and operation of all the fundamental rights declared and
recognized by Articles 12, 13(1), 13(2) and 14 shall be subject to such
restrictions as may be prescribed by law in the interests of national
security, public order and the protection of public health or morality, or
for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and
freedoms of others, or of meeting the just requirements of the general
welfare of a democratic society. For the purposes of this paragraph "
law " includes regulations made under the law for the time being
relating to public security.

(8)
The exercise and operation of the fundamental rights declared and
recognized by Articles 12 (1), 13 and 14 shall, in their application to
the members of the Armed Forces, Police Force and other Forces charged
with the maintenance of public order, be subject to such restrictions as
may be prescribed by law in the interests of the proper discharge of their
duties and the maintenance of discipline among them.

Existing
written law and unwritten law to continue in force.

16.
(1) All existing written law and unwritten law shall be valid and
operative notwithstanding any inconsistency with the preceding provisions
of this Chapter.

(2)
The subjection of any person on the order of a competent court to any form
of punishment recognized by any existing written law shall not be a
contravention of the provisions of this Chapter.

Remedy
for the infringement of fundamental rights by executive action.

17.
Every person shall be entitled to apply to the Supreme Court, as provided
by Article 126, in respect of the infringement or imminent infringement,
by executive or administrative action, of a fundamental right to which I
such person is entitled under the provisions of this Chapter.